Points Leaders Dominate Road Atlanta Race

ChipGanassiRacingwithFelixSabates pairing ScottPruett and MemoRojas turned out to comfortable winners on the Rolex Series’ first race at Road Atlanta, the reigning series champions taking the victory by 17 seconds at the end of the two hour, 45 minute race.

Just as in the previous round of the championship at Barber Motorsports Park the race was slowed by only a single caution – caused, as it was a Barber, by TurnerMotorsports’ BMW stopped by the side of the track. However, coming only a few laps in the race the caution flag did little to decide the outcome of the race, with the leading Daytona Prototype teams remaining on a three-stop strategy.

Having been handed pole position after rain forced the cancellation of qualifying the previous day Rojas put the #01 BMW-Riley into a lead that would the last the first 32 laps until, nearly an hour into the race the Mexican became one of the first to pit for the first time, with teammate Scott Pruett taking over the car at the first opportunity.

JordanTaylor, JonFogarty and BurtFrisselle followed Rojas into the lead, then into the pits for WayneTaylorRacing, GAINSCO/BobStallingsRacing and ActionExpressRacing, Frisselle the final man to pit, with Pruett taking the lead of the race.

The pattern was to be repeated on the second cycle of stops, the Ganassi squad again one of the first to be called into action with the lead passing between the same four teams, though with different drivers – MaxAngelelli and BrianFrisselle – taking the point for WTR and in Action Express Racing’s #9 entry.

The same sequence of stops, an hour and 45 minutes into the race, cost the #5 Action Express team dearly. In the driver reshuffled that had put the Frisselle brothers together JoaoBarbosa and ChristianFittipaldi had been paired in the #5 car. Barbosa was running safely in the top three – behind Pruett and Angelelli – before the pit stops began but as he was released from his own stop he pulled directly across the path of the arriving PedroLamy – sharing with StephaneSarrazin in an all-pro line-up for 8StarMotorsports. The contact did little serious damage to 8Star’s Corvette DP but pushed Barbosa into the end of the pit wall, forcing the team to effect lengthy repairs that left the duo well off the pace.

Their place in to top three was taken by the #2 StarworksMotorsport Ford-Riley of RyanDalziel and AlexPopow, with Dalziel taking second place following the final tranche of pitstops.

Pruett pulled away, leaving Dalziel to take second with AlexGurney crossing the line third for Bob Stallings Racing. AntonioPizzonia was fourth under the checkered flag in the MichaelShankRacing #6 after a contentious pass on Angelelli in the closing laps. The bump wide at turn one pushed Angelelli from fourth – chasing a Gurney on fading tyres – to sixth with RichardWestbrook able to take a position for SpiritofDaytonaRacing.

Michael Shank Racing’s #60 and the Frisselle’s #9 completed the top eight car, all the lead lap finishers.

In GT StevensonMotorsports’RobinLiddell and JohnEdwards followed up their class win at Barber with another victory, also hot on the heels of Stevenson’s Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge win earlier in the day.

The pairing had to beat off strong opposition from the ScuderiaCorsa Ferrari of JeffWestphal and AlessandroBalzan. Westphal had quickly taken the lead from John Potter at the start of the race, keeping the lead until he pitted for the second time in the race, with Balzan taking over.

Liddell took the lead, keeping Balzan at bay in the closing laps before a rapid AndyLally – lapping faster than the leader in the closing laps – sliced from fourth in class up to second. In moving the ParkPlaceMotorsports Porsche into second he pushed Balzan down to third, and bumped LehKeen from the podium in BrumosRacing’s final planned racing outing this year as they depart to assess options for 2014.

Mazda took their first win in the GX class. The two diesel Mazda 6 in the class combined to lead every lap. TomLong and SylvainTremblay looked likely to get the win in the #70 after leading all but a single mid-pitstop lap of the first 77 but a long stop with mechanical problems handed the win to Joel Long and AndrewCarbonell in the Visit Florida/Speedsource #00.